Need some information on/experiences with the Kumon teaching method

I'd love to hear from parents and educators on how effective the Kumon teaching method is. For those wondering, Kumon is a Japanese method of teaching reading and math, taught at centers around the US and the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumon_method

Does it work? Are there things parents should consider before enrolling their kids in the classes? Let me know.
Thanks!

Answers (3)

I have heard of many good experiences from parents about Kumon. They have mentioned that it was very enriching and strengthening to their child's reading and math skills. I have also heard from a Bright Solutions "Diagnosing Dyslexia" workshop that it will not help children with dyslexia.

Hopefully you'll get more detailed information and responses from other educators and parents, but figured this was a start.

Kumon is the Japanese method of drill based exercises. There are positives and negatives to this type of method. Firstly, drill based teaching teaches the method over and over by making students do pages and pages of problems. The downside to this method is that kids get bored and don't want to continue. Kumon works for some kids and not for others. Assess how your child is and what are his/her needs before enrolling him/her in this kind of program.
I hope this helps,
Good luck,
Rachna

It depends on how your child learns. If your child has a learning difference, they will need a very specialized reading or tutoring program with a more one-on-one learning environment. This will need to include a teacher or tutor trained and experienced in working with remediational programs.

With reading: It must be an extremely structured program that is systematic, repetitive and cumulative. This means that, like a pyramid, the base or foundation must first be strong enough to support the entire structure. With a solid and strong foundation students will be able to recognize words through decoding. Usually after a student has mastered the decoding process, the fluency and comprehension will follow. This must include multisensory learning - hear it, see it, say it and move with it.

A specialized and well -trained teacher or tutor of students with learning disabilities will also enhance executive functioning skills, which are often quite weak in students with dyslexia, auditory and visual processing disorder and ADHD. These students also will need to learn one-on-one with very few distractions in a multisensory, structured learning environment.

If your child does not fall under these categories then I think a mainstream typical after-school tutoring program should work just fine.